HAVERHILL — In front of a standing room only crowd at the Sport and Fitness on Sunday afternoon, the Northern Essex Community College men’s basketball picked up their 30th win of the season and in the process became the first team in 20 years to win back to back NJCAA Region 21/East District as they defeated second seeded Quincy College by a 80-69 final.
With the victory, the Knights advance to the NJCAA National Tournament for the second consecutive year scheduled to begin March 13th in Herkimer, NY.
It was Luis Reynoso, of Lawrence, who once again who led the Knights as he recorded a double-double of 27 points and 16 rebounds to go along with five assists and a pair of blocked shots.
The game remained close throughout the first stanza before the Knights were able to take a 10 point lead into the locker room at halftime with a 33-23 score. NECC continued to build the lead in the early moments of the second half and would eventually build it up to as much as 23 points at the midway point of the second half.
Kyoya Sasaki and Javien Kirmil joined Reynoso in double figures as they recorded 14 and 10 points respectively.
The Knights played lock down defense throughout the games 40 minutes and held Quincy to 17 points below their season average. Edwin SamMBaka continued his locked in defense picking up four steals while Sasaki added four steaks of his own.
The Knights took full advantage of their depth throughout the game as they recorded 18 points of the bench compared to 9 for Quincy and saw nine different players record at least two points.
The Knights will find out their path to the national championship on Wednesday, when the NJCAA announces seeding for the 12 team national tournament at 2:00pm live on the NJCAA Network.
Women defeated by CCRI
The upset minded Northern Essex Community College women’s basketball team took a one point lead into the locker room but a strong second half in which top seeded CCRI outscored the Knights 48-27, gave CCRI a 65-48 win and they will represent Region 21 at the national tournament in Rochester MN. The Knights finish their season with an overall record of 12-9 and Region 21 runner-up in their return to intercollegiate competition following a 13-year hiatus.
Mirelys Morales led the Knights with a team high 18 points and was joined in double figures by McKayla Dingle of Haverhill with 12 and Kamrynn Patorello with 10.
Morales recorded her second double-double of the regional tournament as she recorded 11 rebounds. Janisa Price, of Haverhill, added 10 rebounds for the Knights.